Harassed by police for "slowing down all of traffic" (x-post from /r/rochester)

Description

This video was recorded in mid-May 2018 and cut to length for public consumption. The officers were punished and the tickets I was subsequently issued were dismissed before I stepped foot in a court room, so I'm not looking to cause a witch hunt. I'm... This video was recorded in mid-May 2018 and cut to length for public consumption. The officers were punished and the tickets I was subsequently issued were dismissed before I stepped foot in a court room, so I'm not looking to cause a witch hunt. I'm making this video publicly available now for educational purposes.The story behind this encounter is that I was helping keep a neighborhood ride together after a couple cyclists had fallen behind. Several minutes after this video ends, I ended up put in handcuffs, detained for an hour, and given two tickets, one for not having a bell on my bike (NY VTL 1236(b)) and not having adequate lighting (NY VTL 1236(a)), even after telling them twice to look up the relevant laws. This is a textbook example of contempt of cop (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemp... ).About two months after this incident, both tickets were thrown out by the officer's sergeant (who is also a cyclist) after he reviewed both my video and the officers body cams. Both officers were reprimanded by their sergeant and lieutenant, which is satisfactory enough for me. I had also requested a personal apology from the officers, but I made it clear I did not want it to be a forced apology. The sergeant told me he passed on my contact info to them and I never received an apology. To preemptively shut down any bootlickers, yes, an argument could be made that if I had been cooperative, this wouldn't have happened (which one of the officers said and I got on video -- just not this clip). However, what the officers were telling me was factually incorrect and is not what the state law dictates. It's the same kind of rhetoric used by people who don't like or want cyclists in the road. I know what the relevant traffic laws are and I have little patience for someone with a badge trying to make up laws to bully cyclists (the both officers would go on to say they were doing this because they were "concerned for my safety", probably to try saving face). It wasn't until the one officer said a second time that I can't ride in "the middle of the road" that I corrected her and engaged in the argument. I might have lost the battle, but I won the war largely due to this video.I think the fact that they immediately tried coming up with other things to ticket me over while parked in the middle of the road, accusing me of "slowing down all of traffic" is very telling, but I could be biased.